


The Space Between (You're Literally Dying To Go There)

by ourheart



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Chara POV, Chara is a bit of a jerk, Frisk Needs A Hug, Gen, Kinda, Light Angst, Non-Binary Chara, Non-Binary Frisk, POV First Person, but they're not a soulless demon, dying for the first time is rough
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-01
Updated: 2016-04-01
Packaged: 2018-05-30 13:16:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,148
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6425497
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ourheart/pseuds/ourheart
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Whenever you died, you heard a lullaby. A faint memory replayed like a broken record. These were not meant for your ears. Still, I guess if you found comfort in them... You big baby. I'll never understand how you stayed so determined. I got to meet you properly for the first time, thanks to the Space Between.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Space Between (You're Literally Dying To Go There)

**Author's Note:**

> Written by Eissibee. 
> 
> First fic ever completed and posted somewhere! Yay! It's a short one, but there will be more to come from both of us nerds. We kinda got attached to these kids.

You know, when I first met you, I thought you were an idiot. You were so shocked to see me, I thought your eyebrows would fly right off. It was expected, of course, but it still hurt. After all, I’d been following you since the day you first fell. The flowers that broke your fall… They grew from my bones. They thrived and found use in something I had long since discarded.

But something in your soul called to my own that day. I remember thinking it was almost rude, how you’d woken me up like that. Ruder still that you didn’t seem to even notice me at first. You dismissed my voice as your own thoughts, probably for your own security. That’s fair, I suppose. You must have thought you were losing it. Heh. 

No, the first time we met, when you first noticed me, was the first time you died. Lucky you, right? Most people only die once. I’m not sure if you were really aware of how you did it, but you somehow managed to hold your soul together. Somehow, you managed to survive. To _persist._ There was a moment though, a space between if you like - where your soul had rested before you were strong enough to continue. An endless blank space, filled with a comforting darkness. I always swore you heard something I didn’t whenever we went there. I occasionally caught traces of an old lullaby, but it pained me to listen closer for some reason, so I ignored it. I’d been there once myself before meeting you, y’know. To the space between. I… I didn’t stay long. But after you woke me up, I was able to follow you and go there again.

Of course, when we met, you were distraught. It made sense. You _had_ just died. The first time was the hardest, I remember. You didn’t understand anything, and your soul shook as hard as your hands as you clutched your head in them, already falling to your knees. I felt it too, like an echo. It was a monster from the Ruins, right? They caught you by surprise, right through the chest. I felt sorry for you, I guess. Even though you were just a human. You deserved it really, for being born to such a cruel race. But… You were so scared. So _small._ Even I did not anticipate my own hand moving to rest on your shoulder, as you sobbed and wailed out your grief. 

That was when you noticed me, flinching from my touch so violently that I sprang back a few paces. You hiccuped and looked at me like I was the Reaper. Perhaps I was supposed to be. But I simply stared back, regarding you with more caution than pity. You asked me who I was. I shook my head and laughed. It was so funny I couldn’t even remember my own name. You asked me why I was crying. I curtly replied that I wasn’t. 

“...Am I… d-dead?” You asked, fingers trembling, grasping for purchase on that old sweater of yours.

“Of course you are. You were impaled through the ribs… H-Hey! Don’t start crying again!”

You muttered an apology and wiped your face on your sleeve. I sighed and rolled my eyes, resigning crossed arms to hang guiltily at my sides, scarred fingers unable to stop from tapping out pointless patterns.

“...I don’t think you’ll be dead for _long.”_

“W-What do you mean?”

“I mean, if you were going to actually die, you’d have done it by now. Haven’t you noticed? Your wounds have healed already.” I gestured to your chest, which was indeed as good as new. Even your clothing had been mended, the dirt and dust gone from your cheeks as if you had never seen your own life leak slowly out of you onto the unforgiving cavern floor.

Oh, but you had seen it, felt it... and your horror hung onto the underside of your eyes like a pair of recently burdened gallows. The shadows would not leave no matter how often you tried to shake them off, and I doubted you would ever really be alright again. Without thinking, I had stepped back towards you, and this time you did not flinch, you head bowed low with decaying thoughts. I had the strangest desire to knock you sideways, to pull at your hair, to see how far I could push you - How widely I might dare to grin as I caused you more suffering. And yet, I also had a strong urge to do _something… anything_ , to make you feel less like a mountain had suddenly been placed on your shoulders and you knew too much, too much for a child to know. Perhaps… Perhaps meeting you reminded me that I was also just a kid. We both were, despite how laughable that seemed. I briefly rubbed my sleeve over my face again and placed my other hand under your chin with a grip that promised nothing, lifting your darkened eyes to meet my own. The moment my hand touched your skin, a flood of buried memories burst forth. The words echoed and crashed around the nothingness and I retracted my hand like it had been burned. Silently cursing, I clutched my hand to my chest as one familiar phrase whispered to the two of us.

_Stay Determined._

We let the silence ring once the message faded. You were quiet for a while after that, eventually shifting to get back on your feet. Then you gave a faint smile and tried to tell me your name. I spat that names didn’t matter. I had almost let myself forget how much I hated our shared similarity, but those words… My father’s last farewell reminded me about as kindly as a brick wall or a curled fist. All humans were the same, weren’t they? Full of anger and selfishness. My plan had failed. I didn’t want to get dragged along with you. I didn’t want to exist at all, and you had the _nerve_ to _WAKE ME UP-_

…

I muttered that you should leave while you could. That you’d that you’d probably be fine. The place was already coming apart. Streams of light appeared to gently tug at your arms, as if guiding you back. I tried to withhold the jealously glittering in my eyes as you were momentarily held aloft by light, like some kind of loathsome angel. You called out how you had thought that you had been alone before now, that you were glad it was otherwise. I wished I could smack that growing smile from your face, and did not answer. That lullaby played, and I continued to ignore it as you were whisked back into the world of the living. Knowing your clumsy, _foolish_ kindness, it wouldn’t be long before I’d meet you here again.


End file.
